Savory Zucchini-Cheddar Muffins with Quinoa

This is yet another recipe I've had my eye on for a while.  I attempted to make it a week or two ago, but I didn't have the plain Greek yogurt it needed.  Then after I bought the Greek yogurt, the more I looked at the Cook For Your Life recipe I realized I didn't like the amount of oil they used (only 1/3 cup, but still seemed like a lot), so I combined a couple recipes. I used the All Recipes one for the muffin base, and I followed the Cook For Your Life recipe for the spices and quinoa. 

Sonny D helps me cook sometimes, so this is one occasion where I really got him in on the action.

Inspiration

All Recipes savory cheddar zucchini muffins (base savory muffin recipe)
Cook for your Life zucchini, cheddar, and quinoa muffins (spices + quinoa idea)
Instructions for cooking quinoa

I replaced all of the butter from the All Recipes version with plain Greek yogurt.  And I removed some of the flour and replaced it with cooked quinoa.  I don't really know how much shredded cheese I used since it was an already open bag, that's why the calorie count varies.  If it was more like 3/4 cup of shredded cheese, then it would be at the low end, but if it was the full 2 cups, then it would be 135 calories per muffin.  I also skipped the Parmesan and bacon because I didn't think they were going to need it and I was too lazy to pull out even more ingredients.

Ingredients

makes 12 savory muffins, approximately 100-135 calories each

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (white all-purpose flour would probably be fine too, I used this because I had it)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• freshly-ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dry cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (I made 1 cup dry which cooks up to approximately 2 cups of cooked quinoa.  The rest went into containers in the freezer.)
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed dry in a kitchen towel
• 1 clove garlic, minced (from a jar)
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar (I had a partial bag, no idea how much I really used)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick spray.  Definitely don't skip this part.  I forgot to spray mine and put the first one in and it stuck a bit, and that was in an essentially non-stick silicone pan. So if you're using a metal pan, you most definitely have to spray it. 

It helps to have a shirtless toddler assistant, makes them taste better! 

In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients, flour through salt.  Luckily it didn't matter if he stirred this a lot, because this got "splashed" and mixed around as much as he could.

The dry ingredients mixed by a child's hands.

In a large bowl mix the wet ingredients, yogurt through shredded cheese.

The wet ingredients.  Gosh, that really is a beautiful hand model!

 My zucchini was huge, I had to cut it into about 4 pieces to get reasonable sized chunks to shred up.  All the rest of it went into a couple freezer bags to be frozen for later use, ya know, like when you get a hankering for random zucchini items (ok, really to boost the veggie quotient in dish). 

Some shredded zucchini before squeezing dry in a kitchen towel.

Zucchini in the wet mixture.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time (I split mine into three rounds) and gently combine.  Pour into the sprayed muffin pan.

 Bake for 30-35 min.

I always forget to take a picture before they go in the oven!

Let the muffins cool in the pan and then remove.  I ran a knife around mine to ensure they weren't stuck and then after they had cooled somewhat, tipped them on their sides to finish cooling to ensure they didn't get all soggy from steaming themselves in the pan. 

Cheesy muffins.

Verdict

Reminiscent of the awesome homemade cheesy crackers I used to make in high school! 

We first ate these warm from the oven with our dinner and I was totally in love!  They totally gave me flashbacks to the many batches of homemade cheesy crackers I made in high school.  I ended up eating two the first night because I loved them so much even though I was already super-full from the rest of dinner.  I don't know if I even paid attention to whether Husband Jeff really liked them because I was caught in my own pleasant high school thoughts.  I guess he must have said he liked them because I packed them for his lunches and snacks the next couple of days.  Sonny D wouldn't even try them, but I feel like he would love them since it seems really child-friendly.

I had a couple coworkers each try a chunk of one because I was trying to talk them into making them. 

I wish these muffins were a little puffier, don't know if that was because the batter was a little wetter than it was supposed to be or if they need more baking powder.  It doesn't really bug me though since they taste great.  The only things I would change for next time is to see if I can add more zucchini, add maybe 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and maybe season the quinoa as it cooks.  But they were awesome as written, too. 

Since I've got so much zucchini, I might make this one again.  I've also got my eye on a lemon zucchini muffin that sounds pretty cool.